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‘He was out with a knee injury, and his rookie season looked like a wash.’

‘However, I think we have a ways to go in terms of convincing actuaries that in fact e-mail is at worst a wash and probably a benefit.’

‘Together, the two films and DVD presentations cancel each other out, resulting in a wash for a recommendation.’

‘If the matchup problems he creates can offset the matchup liabilities he endures on defense, he could play many opposing centers to a wash or better.’

‘By lunch, I was feeling better, but a good chunk of the morning was a bit of a wash.’

‘With the rest of the season a wash, the team will experiment with players who could make an impact next season.’

Phrases

come out in the wash

informal Be resolved eventually with no lasting harm.

‘he's not happy but he assures me it'll all come out in the wash’

‘The realisation induced a moment or two of panic, and then I shrugged and figured it would all come out in the wash.’

‘In normal circumstances, these sorts of differences just come out in the wash.’

‘As for my own view, I think it all comes out in the wash; some people are doing nasty things, some people are doing good things, been there, done that.’

‘If governments act as they should, and everything else as it should, the market will take care of itself and everything will come out in the wash.’

‘Don't worry about it, it'll come out in the wash.’

‘So by the time we come to sell up, it will all most likely have come out in the wash.’

‘It'll all come out in the wash, as my Gran used to say.’

‘After all, one might point out, defendants are not being ‘overtaxed’ by the tort system as long as the average award they pay is reasonable; they will groan at the high awards, gloat over the low ones, and it will all come out in the wash.’

‘It's probably saved me a lot of money in therapy because I am aware that it all comes out in the wash.’

‘I was hoping to wait until we saw each other, or to see if he got in touch with me at all - childish I know, but hey ho, we are good friends anyway, so it will all come out in the wash.’

in the wash

(of clothes, bed linen, or similar) put aside for washing or in the process of being washed.

‘Like an idiot, I threw my brand new wool sweater in the wash and then in the dryer, shrinking it down about three sizes, rendering it unwearable.’

‘I think doctors should wear a T-shirt, and as soon as it's dirty put it in the wash and put a new one on.’

‘Eventually my guests made up their minds, and the order was carefully written down by a young waitress whose clothes seemed to have shrunk in the wash.’

‘At one point he even threw away all his underwear, thinking it might have shrunk in the wash and be constricting his leg.’

‘I kept forgetting to put my clothes in the wash, so this morning when I got up, I realized that I had no clean gym clothes.’

‘You began to get a really bad fever and were sweating so she took your clothes and they are in the wash as we speak.’

‘I'm sure you could borrow something of Julianne's, and I could throw your stuff in the wash.’

‘I threw my clothes in the wash and then went for another shower.’

‘Remove excess clutter from countertops and shelves, put dirty towels in the wash, and organize along the way.’

‘I spilled water on my shirt, and all my clothes are in the wash.’

wash one's dirty linen (or laundry) in public

informal (of an individual or a member of an organization) discuss or argue about one's private affairs in public.

‘I'm certainly clear that one of the reasons why women are prepared to go to the family courts but not to the criminal courts is the fear of washing their dirty laundry in public.’

‘There are people who do believe we should not wash our dirty linen in public, but we don't agree.’

‘How much longer can the board go on washing their dirty linen in public?’

‘I'm not going to write about this here, because it wouldn't be fair and I don't believe in washing my dirty laundry in public.’

‘By doing this the team are washing their dirty laundry in public.’

‘Sadie hates the fact that she was washing her dirty laundry in public.’

‘In fact, they pride themselves on washing their dirty laundry in public.’

‘There is a terrible pressure within the community to close ranks, not to be seen in public, washing one's dirty linen in public.’

‘I take your point about their relative ease in front of the camera, but then these are people who like, and are used to, living their lives and washing their dirty linen in public.’

‘Why should we wash our dirty linen in public as if we don't have structures to address our differences?’

wash one's hands

Go to the toilet (used euphemistically).

wash one's hands of

Disclaim responsibility for.

‘the social services washed their hands of his daughter’

‘Like some libertarian Pontius Pilate, he washed his hands of any responsibility, skillfully uncoupling the role of the executive from execution.’

‘As an executive who is responsible for financial affairs, he should not be washing his hands of the matter in such a way.’

‘By this time the American representatives of the governing body had washed their hands of all responsibility and even stopped attending board meetings.’

‘And she is angry that a town whose residents often complain about teenagers behaving badly are contemplating washing their hands of a scheme which is tackling the problem.’

‘They're washing their hands of the problem but also guaranteeing the landlords get their revenues, which are, of course, a form of tax revenue.’

‘It was a show they had virtually washed their hands of and abandoned, but one which they didn't actually realise was, in itself, a sensation.’

‘The Conservatives, on the other hand, believe sprawl is a provincial and municipal issue, and are washing their hands of it.’

‘Structural injustice occurs when we let the system oppress the poor and the defenseless by washing our hands of the matter or simply walking away from the victims.’

‘But in recent interviews, he has tried to wash his hands of any responsibility for that mistake.’

‘We need to find the right balance between so-called ‘nannying’ and simply washing our hands of our people's health.’

‘Both sides, whilst washing their mouths out with soap, may still ponder the title.’

‘You people should go wash your mouths out.’

‘Ian should wash his mouth out with soap!’

‘The Minister should wash her mouth out.’

‘But when it comes to the economy, I'm not ready to wash my mouth out just yet.’

‘When we were boys Mum told my brothers and I not to use rude words or she'd wash our mouths out with soap.’

‘He should get up, withdraw and apologise, and wash his mouth out.’

‘Your mom may have once threatened to wash your mouth out with soap.’

‘Have my mother wash my mouth out with soap on public access tv’

‘I had no idea that she could even utter that word without wanting to wash her mouth out.’

one hand washes the other

Mutual favors are exchanged.

‘You can be on the list if you also link to our page. One hand washes the other’

Phrasal Verbs

wash something down

Accompany or follow food with a drink.

‘bacon and eggs washed down with a cup of tea’

‘Hundreds of sausages and burgers were washed down with pints of guest ale and resident brews.’

‘Every recreational hard drug conceivable is washed down with booze, both bought and stolen.’

‘All of this was washed down with generous piping hot glasses of mulled wine.’

‘He took his drinks so seriously that he could give a lecture on why a certain kind of trout should be washed down with red wine and not white wine.’

‘I am told sticky toffee pudding is often served with custard, fresh cream, ice-cream or yogurt, but it's also fine as is, washed down with a cup of good tea.’

‘We had a couple beers to wash the food down and then headed back into town.’

‘This was all washed down with coffee and orange juice.’

‘All of this was washed down with a couple of glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon and a glass of port.’

‘He seemed both tired and restless by the time the meal was washed down with a cupful of water.’

‘Here, hearty staples can be washed down with a selection of moderately priced wines.’

wash out (or wash someone out)

Be excluded (or exclude someone) from a course or position after a failure to meet the required standards.

‘a lot of them had washed out of pilot training’

‘Paperwork was initiated to declare him unstable, a misfit, and wash him out of military service with a Section-8 discharge as ‘unsuitable for military service.’’

‘I don't know if this really impaired his flying ability, but unfortunately Bernie didn't make it and I had to wash him out.’

‘People were trying to wash him out, and it's lit a fire under him.’

‘After I was washed out of flight school, I was sent to a separate barracks with other men who had also failed their check-ride to await reassignment.’

‘However, the commander told me that I had not soloed in ten hours and he was going to wash me out.’

wash something out

1Cause an event to be postponed or canceled because of rain.

‘the game was washed out’

‘Forget the problems at the league stage, if the final and all reserve days were washed out due to rain, the trophy would be shared.’

‘On June 30, 1934, Lou Gehrig of the Yankees would have tied a major league record with three triples in a game but the incomplete game was washed out by rain.’

‘Play started just an hour late after the previous two days had been washed out by heavy rain and a waterlogged outfield.’

‘The two semi final matches were washed out by rain and according to the rules the finalists were decided on the net run rate.’

‘The farm was flooded, the farmers markets were washed out week after week, and Greg and Andy's cash flow went down the drain.’

‘Farnworth were robbed of their big chance to gain ground on Egerton when their head-to-head was washed out on Saturday.’

‘England's only realistic hope of avoiding defeat lay with the weather and their prayers were answered as Sunday's first two sessions were washed out by rain.’

‘Newburgh in Fife, for instance, saw their games cancelled not once, but twice, after the original event was washed out - and the day on which the event was rescheduled proved wet too.’

‘The event was washed out by flash floods in the pre-dawn hours on the day of the race.’

‘An hour or two later torrential rain began to fall and the show was washed out.’

2(of a flood or downpour) make a breach in a road.

‘A mile or so of the road had been washed out by a flood in 1995, and the agency had decided to keep it closed, saying that construction would hasten erosion and threaten the river's dwindling population of bull trout.’

‘Even after Addie has been dead over a week, and all of the bridges to Jefferson are washed out, he is still determined to get to Jefferson.’

‘It had been there hundreds of years but until Hawnby Bridge was washed out by the weekend's flash floods nobody appreciated it.’

‘Most roads and bridges servicing plantations were washed out.’

‘Trailers are toppled, roads are washed out and equipment is bent and broken.’

‘A woman in labour was air-lifted from Ruatahuna to Rotorua Hospital, while about 30 people are cut off from civilisation in Ruatoki after access roads were washed out.’

‘All the roads were washed out so our helicopters are the only way in.’

‘She said the entire island, which is about 14 miles wide, by the way, is covered in about four feet of water, that the ferries aren't running and all their roads are washed out.’

wash over

1(of a feeling) affect (someone) suddenly.

‘a deep feeling of sadness washed over her’

‘Audrey wasn't sure if the sudden spinning feeling that washed over her was one of relief of regret.’

‘She felt a sudden burst of shyness wash over her and suddenly felt extremely embarrassed for wearing a towel.’

‘I exhaled, a wave of sadness and regret washing over me.’

‘I suddenly felt a peace wash over me, and I knew he'd heard and all was forgiven.’

‘A mixture of happiness and guilt washed over her, and she could only sigh.’

‘He felt a wave of sadness wash over him again, but he ignored it, like he did every day.’

‘Suddenly a wave of homesickness washed over me, almost more than I could bear.’

‘Guilt washed over James, even though his father seemed undisturbed by his outburst.’

‘The guilt washed over me like storm clouds being pushed by the northern winds.’

‘I bit my lower lip as if a moment of clarity had suddenly washed over me and I realized what I had just agreed to.’

‘The pain from his wounds suddenly washed over him like a tidal wave, ten times worse than before.’

‘My eyelids begin to droop, and a sudden wave of exhaustion washes over me.’

‘Therese stepped into the stables, a sudden wave of suspicion washing over her.’

‘I felt a surge of sadness washing over me as I held him.’

‘When he didn't call again, a wave of sadness washed over me, but it contained a bit of relief.’

‘Tears came like a sudden wave of sadness, washing over me.’

‘When I heard their footsteps fade and their door close I felt a sudden wave of relief wash over me.’

‘As the plane touched down, the fatigue and stress suddenly washed over me and I nearly burst into tears.’